HOW DARPA'S EXPERIMENTAL R3D2 SATELLITE WAS BUILT SUPER FAST - The builder for an innovative Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) satellite says they "successfully demonstrated rapid spacecraft development" for the R3D2 mission, which launched flawlessly in late March.Read article

SATELLITE NEWS

A TOP-SECRET CHINESE SPACE MISSION FAILING IN MID-FLIGHT — CHINA'S SECOND ROCKET LOSS OF THE YEAR - China attempted to launch a top-secret military payload into space early Thursday morning, but the attempt ended in a rain of wreckage.
The loss of the Long March 4C rocket and its satellite marks the nation's second launch failure of 2019. The first was a commercial launch in March by the Chinese aerospace startup OneSpace.
China put out notifications of airspace closures and other safety measures ahead of the launch, but — as is common — it did not formally announce the mission. More(Source: Business Insider - May 24)

BOULDER’S BALL AEROSPACE SATELLITE SET FOR LAUNCH - A satellite built by Boulder-based Ball Aerospace arrived in Florida on Monday in preparation for a June launch as part of NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission. The mission will be NASA’s first time using a low toxicity “green” propellant and propulsion system in orbit – an alternative to conventional chemical propulsion.
“We are proud to be part of this historic mission to test a new green propellant on board Ball’s flight-proven small satellite, helping to provide science at any scale,” Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace said in a statement. More(Source: Boulder Daily Camera - May 24)

SPACEX LAUNCHES STARLINK: WAITING FOR DEPLOYMENT OF 60 SATELLITES IN LANDMARK MISSION - SpaceX just vaulted a rocket full of 60 satellites into the sky. Now for the moment of truth: The company will try to deploy the entire batch of satellites safely into orbit.
This is the first dedicated mission for SpaceX's Starlink, an ambitious plan to put up a megaconstellation of satellites that could beam cheap broadband all over the planet. The towering Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:30 pm ET.
Around 11:30 pm ET, the second stage of the rocket will try to gently deploy all 60 satellites in a unique way. The payload stack will turn over as the satellites fan out in a way that will look like "spreading a deck of cards on a table," as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described it. More(Source: CNN - May 24)

TETHERS UNLIMITED DEVELOPING SATELLITE SERVICER FOR LEO MISSIONS - Tethers Unlimited is designing a satellite servicing vehicle that would leverage technologies developed for the U.S. Defense Department and NASA to service spacecraft in low Earth orbit.
Tethers Unlimited already has many of the technologies needed for the servicer either completed or in development under Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, CEO Robert Hoyt told SpaceNews.
By combining these technologies, the company hopes to have a servicer called LEO Knight in orbit within three to four years, he said. The servicer would support on-orbit assembly, refueling for small satellites and other functions, he said. More(Source: SpaceNews - May 22)

ARE WE REACHING THE END OF SPACEWALKS? - It’s June 3, 1965 and astronaut Ed White, in orbit over Hawaii, emerges from a space capsule to become the first American to conduct a extravehicular activity, or EVA. Connected with a single tether providing power and communication lines, he maneuvers using an oxygen gun for propulsion, takes in the view, and poses for pictures.
“I feel like a million dollars,” White says.
These days EVAs are not done for the photos, they are part of the maintenance and operation of the International Space Station. They are planned to the minute, and astronauts seldom have time for a selfie (or joyriding with jet-guns). More(Source: Popular Mechanics - May 22)

INDIAN ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS RADAR OBSERVATION SATELLITE TO ORBIT - An Indian rocket fired into space Wednesday with a high-power radar imaging satellite designed to peer through clouds and darkness to resolve signs of pollution, natural disasters and foreign military movements.
The 145-foot-tall (44.4-meter) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off with more than a million pounds of thrust at 0000 GMT Wednesday (8 p.m. EDT Tuesday) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, a spaceport on India’s southeastern coast with the Bay of Bengal. More(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 22)

ULA BEGINS STACKING ATLAS 5 ROCKET FOR LATE JUNE LAUNCH - The bronze first stage of United Launch Alliance’s next Atlas 5 rocket arrived at its Cape Canaveral launch pad Friday, where it will be joined by five solid-fueled boosters, a Centaur upper stage and a U.S. Air Force communications satellite in the coming weeks ahead of liftoff set for June 27.
Riding on a specially-outfitted trailer, the rocket’s first stage was trucked from the Atlas Space Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to the nearby Complex 41 launch pad, where cranes lifted the 107-foot-long (32-meter) stage vertical and placed it on a mobile platform inside the Vertical Integration Facility. More(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 21)

LONG MARCH 3C ROCKET LAUNCHES BEIDOU SATELLITE TOWARD GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT - China launched a Beidou navigation satellite Friday using a Long March 3C rocket, adding another node to a growing space-based network that Chinese officials say will broadcast positioning and timing signals around the world next year.
The Long March 3C launcher, fitted with a pair of liquid-fueled strap-on boosters, fired away from the Xichang space center at 1548 GMT (11:48 a.m. EDT) Friday, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, or CALT, the state-owned contractor that builds most Chinese satellite launchers. More(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 19)

SATELLITE DATA CAN HELP MONITOR SHIFTING AND SINKING GROUNDS - Land subsidence is the shifting and sinking of the ground, and it can be disastrous for low lying countries. Subsidence can be caused by several factors, including erosion, earthquakes, mining, and even rapid urbanization.
Because of the risks that subsidence poses to urban areas and agriculture, it is crucial to find ways to monitor and map subsidence in regions where city infrastructure, buildings, homes, and crop yields are under threat. More(Source: Earth.com - May 19)

SPACEX DELAYS LAUNCH OF 60 STARLINK SATELLITES AGAIN, THIS TIME FOR SOFTWARE CHECKS - The first big batch of SpaceX internet satellites will have to wait at least another week to get aloft.
Elon Musk's company scrubbed the launch of 60 Starlink spacecraft tonight (May 16) about two hours before their planned 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT on May 17) liftoff, citing a desire to update software and perform some more checks. More(Source: Space.com - May 17)

FIRST HAM SATELLITE — OSCAR 1 — WILL JOIN AMSAT’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT DAYTON - A working prototype of OSCAR 1, Amateur Radio’s first satellite, will be on display at AMSAT’s Dayton Hamvention® booth. AMSAT’s exhibit will be in Building 1 (Maxim Hall) at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio. OSCAR 1 (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) was launched into orbit in 1961, at the dawn of the Space Age. Built by a group of California-based radio amateurs for about $60, OSCAR 1 was the first nongovernmental satellite. It transmitted a simple “HI” in CW for nearly 20 days and was heard in 28 different countries. More(Source: ARRL - May 17)

WATCH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLYBYS ALL NIGHT LONG - The annual International Space Station marathon viewing season begins later this week, when skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere can watch up to five ISS passes in one night. I've seen the International Space Station (ISS) pass over my house a hundred times yet never tire of the sight. Inside that bright light, a crew of several astronauts looks earthward with the same sense of wonder. Now in its 21st year in orbit, the ISS is the brightest, most recognizable satellite in the sky. Few naked-eye sky sights elicit more wows at public star parties than the Venus-bright "star" speeding through the constellations. More(Source: Sky & Telescope - May 16)

SPACEX DELAYS LAUNCH OF 60 STARLINK INTERNET SATELLITES OVER HIGH WINDS - SpaceX will have to wait at least one more day to start setting up its internet-satellite megaconstellation.
A Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch the first 60 of SpaceX's Starlink satellites tonight (May 15) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, but Mother Nature didn't cooperate: Strong high-altitude winds forced the company to push the attempt by 24 hours.
SpaceX made that call just seconds before beginning its launch livestream at 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT). More(Source: Space.com - May 16)

SPACEX KICKS OFF ITS SPACE-BASED INTERNET SERVICE TOMORROW WITH 60-SATELLITE STARLINK LAUNCH - As wild as it sounds, the race is on to build a functioning space internet — and SpaceX is taking its biggest step yet with the launch of 60 (!) satellites tomorrow that will form the first wave of its Starlink constellation. It’s a hugely important and incredibly complex launch for the company — and should be well worth launching.
A Falcon 9 loaded to the gills with the flat Starlink test satellites (they’re “production design” but not final hardware) is vertical at launchpad 40 in Cape Canaveral. It has completed its static fire test and should have a window for launch tomorrow, weather permitting. More(Source: TechCrunch - May 15)

SPACEX IS ABOUT TO TAKE THE LEAD IN THE SATELLITE INTERNET RACE - Elon Musk’s space company is planning to launch 60 of its own satellites in a single launch this week, the first of more than 4,000 spacecraft planned for the Starlink network.
If successful, the flight will make SpaceX the frontrunner in a tight race to be the first operator of an internet satellite network. Why? SpaceX is the only competitor with its own rockets. More(Source: Quartz - May 15)

LAUNCH OF FOURTH BLAGOVEST SATELLITE PLANNED FOR JULY 16 — SOURCE - The space system of military communications Blagovest will be completed in mid-July when the fourth satellite is launched, a source in the space rocket industry told TASS on Tuesday.
Read also
Glonass satellites will be launched with Angara rocket for the first time in 2024
"The Blagovest satellite will be launched on July 16 even though the launch was initially planned for the end of May. After the satellite is delivered to the orbit, the orbital group of military communications satellites Blagovest will be completed," the source said.
More(Source: TASS - May 14)

DOZENS OF SATELLITES COULD FEED NOAA’S FUTURE WEATHER MODELS - The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s future satellite constellations are likely to look far different from the current ones, particularly in low Earth orbit where small satellites of various sizes could gather targeted observations.
That is one of the conclusions leaders of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service have reached since releasing the NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture study in early 2018. More(Source: SpaceNews - May 14)

SPACEX'S STARLINK COULD CAUSE CASCADES OF SPACE JUNK - This Wednesday SpaceX will launch its first batch of Starlink satellites—a “mega constellation” of thousands of spacecraft to provide high-speed Internet access to billions of people at any location on the planet. Starlink is only the first of many such projects; there are at least eight more mega constellations in the works from other companies. Although they promise to revolutionize global telecommunications, these efforts are not free of peril: as the number of satellites inexorably grows, so, too, does the risk of creating dangerous debris that could threaten the continued safe use of Earth orbit. “This is something we need to pay attention to,” says Glenn Peterson, a senior engineering specialist at the Aerospace Corporation, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif. “We have to be proactive.” More(Source: Scientific American - May 14)

NASA, ULA FIND LAUNCH OPPORTUNITY FOR INFLATABLE HEAT SHIELD DEMONSTRATOR - A flight demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could be used to retrieve reusable engines from United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket, and for the delivery of heavier cargo to the surface of Mars, is planned for launch in late 2021 or early 2022 as a piggyback payload on an Atlas 5 rocket with a NOAA weather satellite. The inflatable re-entry decelerator will launch as a joint project between NASA and ULA, which foresee different uses for the technology. More(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 14)

SMALL SATELLITES: BREAKING THE MONOPOLY OF POWERFUL NATIONS IN SPACE INDUSTRY – ANALYSIS - In 2017, India launched a record 104 satellites into space. Barring one, the rest of the satellites that were launched were small satellites. Small satellites are miniaturised satellites that weigh under 500 kilograms. Evolution of the technology for building small satellites is making it accessible to a wide range of users, from university students to engineers and scientists all over the world. Small satellites have several advantages over large satellites namely cost effective ways to test newer technologies, opportunities for local industry, bigger basket of potential users and thus a large variety of mission possibilities. More(Source: Eurasia Review - May 13)